Method of and apparatus for cooling refrigerating-cars



(No Model. S heetB -A-Sheet 2..

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING REVFRIGERATI'NGCARS. No. 244,602. Patented J'uly 19,188L

. n o n a n n n o n q o n n n n n a n into the car to be cooled, as

{PATENT QFF CE EBENEZER HILnoF soUTHNonw L CONNECTICUT.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS a COOLING REFRIGERATI'NG-CARS.

SPEGIFIQATION forming part of Letters IlEatent No. 244,602, dated July 19, 1881.

. I: i A. Application filedMa'ytQl; i881. (NomodeL) To altwho'm it may concern:

.Be it known that I, EBENEZER' HILL, of South Norwalk,'county of Fairlield,and State of Connecticut, have invented a'certain new andlImproved-Method of Cooling Refrigerating-Cars and Apparatus for the purpose, 'of which the following is a'specification.

. This invention has for its objectthe cooling of railway-cars for the transportation. of such articles as are liable to decay in a temperature a little above the freezing-pointsuch as meats, fruits, 8tc.-.-when-in transit between distant pointsy'and the-invention consists, first, in a. procession method of compressing airdrawn. from the ordinary atmosphere through which the car or cars may' move, conducting said air through suitable conduits to the car orcars to be cooled, and then-passing it through an expanding motor-engine to perform work in driving a compressor, the air of which is'added to the air from the first compression, and is returned'to expanding motor, and thence escapes will hereinafter appear. i I z The invention further consists in so combining an air-expanding engine for driving an air compressing engine on a railway-car of suita ble construction, and with a prime air-com-f pressor. or equivalent source of air-pressure connected. to the car, that the exhaust-air from the expanding-engine will cool the car when permitted 'to escape into it, as will hereinafter appear.

The invention further consists in so combin- 1n g an air-compressing engine on a railway-car and a prime air compressor or reservoir of air ing an air-compressing locomotive apparatus with a train of cars and suitable connections to air-expandingengines for drivingair-compressors on each car to be cooled that a proper supply of compressed air may be furnished to the expanding and compressingapparatus, as will hereinafter appear.

train.

The invention further consists in so combinlng an air-expanding engine for-compression with the ordinary atmospheric or air-brake reservoirs'of a train that the proper supply of compressed air maybe furnished to operate the air-coolin g apparatus, as will hereinafter appear. A a

.The invention also consists in so combining and arranging air-compressing apparatus and .reservoirs relatively to a railway-car that by suitable connections a propersupply of air may be furnished to an air-compressing apparatus on a car or cars to be cooled, whereby a proper degree of refrigeration-may be produced on the car, as will hereinafter appear.

The invention also: consists in combining with a car to be cooled by compressed air a thermostat to operate a valve intermediate be tween the prime motor and the expanding-engine, as will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings, Figure-1, Sheet 1, is a plan of the top of a car having the cooling devices located thereon. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation with the side removed to show cooling-pipes in. the interior. A locomotive is also shown in elevation in the same figure. Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is .an elevation of a locomotive air-compressor and its engine and boiler as related to;the locomotive of the Fig. 5 is an elevation of an air-compressor and its reservoirs as they are related to the track andiin the act of charging a tank with air to operate cooling-engines on the cars.

The same letters refer to like parts in the drawings.

At A is represented a car specially constructed for carrying articles required to be kept cool when in transit, andftherefore it is made with non-conducting walls and provided with beams and hooks for suspending meats, and with latt-iced bins for holding fruits, as represented.

Upon the top of thecar, at B, an air-tight receptacle is constructed with non-conducting walls like an ice-chest to receive an air-expandingengine, as at G, which is operated by compressed air, tirst, from an independent source, as from a compressing-engine on the locomotive at D, and which mayalso be used to operate the brakes, or from a special compressor,

as at E,- Fig. 4, or from a tank or reservoir, as too atF,which has been charged at a station and, second, from air compressed by an engineor pump, at G, which is driven by the expanding engine itself, and to which it is directly connected as by a piston-rod, shown at H.

It is well-known to engineers familiar with the actionof air under pressure that if it performs work when permitted to expand it becomes exceedingly cold; hence the air from the exhaustof the expanding-engine O is permitted to escape directly into the cooling-chest B to coolabrine, or circulating agent to cool the car; orit may escape directly into the car through a nozzle, as at K, and by entering the car with considerable force will cause a circulation in the car, and the warmer air will be thereby displaced and return through suitable openings to the cooling-chest B again or it may escape into a heat-absorbing and cooling tank, as at L, which is filled with tubes like a surface-condenser, and where it gives its cold to the air from the prime motor on its way to drive the expanding-engine at 0. If the supply of air is furnished from the compressor that operates the brakes on the train-as, for example, at M, where the compressoris shown on the side of the locomotive I)then the air will be conducted back through the ordinary pipes and coupling, as at M and M to a reservoir under the car at N, which may supply the air to work the brakes as well as the expanding-engine at C, to which it is conducted through tubes or pipes, as at O and at 0, up to the end of the heat absorbing and cooling tank at L, which is fastened upon the top of the car, and whichis filled with small tubes, as shown at P, to absorb the heat of compression and to radiate it and also cool the air from the escaping air from the inside of the car, as already explained. From said tank L, the air under compression is conducted bya pipe at to the expanding-engine, whereitperformstheworkofdrivingthespecial compressor at E, which draws its supply from the open air through a long trunk upon the top of the car, as at R, and which is provided with screens of wire'cloth or similar fabric, as at S,

to separate the dust; and there may also be atank filled with sponge or some similar material, as at S, to further serve as a separator to purify the air before it enters the suction side of the special compressor at E.

Instead of supplying air from the outside to i the trunk and screens,it may be supplied from the escaping cold air from the car through-the outlet-pipe at T,which is provided with a valve to throw the air either into the trunk R or to stop it oil, so that the warm air will be compelled to circulate over and over from the car to the cooling-chest and back again through proper openings, as at W, in the said chest, and around the nozzle at K in the top of the car, this last arrangement of the devices shown in a previous application by me for a patent for dynamic refrigeration, in which the expanding-engine is represented in a separate chamber from the chill-room.

The air from the special compressor is forced through a tank like the one shown at L, and which is also fastened on the top of the car, as shown at X, and it is provided with coolingtubes, as shown at X, and the other end con.- nects with the pipe 0, leading from the prime motor or first source of supply for air under pressure, so that the air from the special compressor is used to assist in driving its motor or the expanding-engine. Consequently, after the apparatus has been properly set in operation, the amount of air from the prime motor or source of supply will only be equal to the leakage and deficiency from radiation, &c., and therefore a strong tank may be carried underneath the car or on a special car provided for the purpose, as shown at F, Fig. 5, into which air from a reservoir may be charged at a very high pressure, and then be supplied to the cars by a reducing-valve, as at Z, so that the expanding-engine may be kept in operation when the cars are detached from the locomotive or between stations, if the locomotive is not provided with air-brakes and a compressor, as represented.

Another source of supply for air as a prime motor to the compressors on the cars is shown at Fig. 4:,where a compressor,as at A, and its engine B are mounted on a boiler at G, on a car at I), constructed like a tender, to carry coal and water for supplying the boiler, so that such a compressor may supply the required amount of air to any number of refrigeratingcars through proper connections in a train, and thus be independent of the supply from the 10- comotive, even if it has a compressor to operate the brakes. This arrangement would be preferable where a train of man y refrigerating-cars were combined in it, as then any number could be supplied with air from a special prime motor while the locomotive is employed for adding or switching other cars at stations or junction, as is often the case.

The main pipe leading from the source of the air-supply must, of course, be furnished with cooks for each car, and it will be found important to have a thermostat in each car, with a rod extending to a cock, as at a,in the pipe 0, so that the supply of air to each car may be controlled according to the temperature desired.

Instead of allowing the air to escape from the expanding-engine directly into the car, it may escape in the cooling-chest, and thence have an outlet to the tank-L,where it will give its cold to incoming air and then escape through the funnel at f as warm air, and as explained in a previous application already referred to for dynamic refrigeration. In such a case the cooling-chest will be filled with coils of pipe (shown at c c) that contain a brine or refrigerating liquid supplied from a receptacle at the upper end, and which gradually runs down through the pipes at d d, fastened upon the sides of the car, as shown, and gradually sinks into a cask or receiver at the bottom,whencc it is returnedtothe upper receptacle by a pumping or lifting deviceof some kind-as, for example, a pump operated bytheoscillating motion of the cars, as patented by one Eliot in 1880. With this kind of an arrangement the liquid in the pipes may be kept sufficiently cold without the use of ice, and thereby a great saving of freight, as well as the cost of the ice,

will be effected. l I

- The air-compressors at the stations, as shown in the drawings, may also serve a useful purpose in shiftingthe switches at the junctions or the intersections of roads or tracks by being suitably connected to them by any of the well-known shifting devices where steam or' conducting it through suitable conduits to the car to be cooled, and then passing it through an expanding motor-engine to perform work in driving a compressorhthe air of which is added to the air from thefirst compression, and is used bythe' expanding-engine, and thence escapes into the car to be cooled, as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination of an air-expanding engine for driving an air-compressing engine or pump on a railway-car adapted for the transportation of meats, fruits, &c.,-with a prime air-compressor or other equivalent source of air-pressure connected to the car, so that the exhaust-air from the expanding-engine will coolthe car when permitted to enter it, as

hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination of an air-compressing engine on a railway-car and a prime air-compressor or reservoir of air under pressure with 5 air-cooling and heat-absorbing conduits, and suitable connections in such a manner that air from the ordinary atmosphere will in its passage through said apparatus serve as a cooling agent for refrigerating articles inside of the car, as hereinbefore set forth.

4. The combination of an air-compressing locomotive apparatus with a train of cars and suitable connections to air-expandin g engines for driving air-compressors on. the cars to be cooled, whereby a proper supply of air may be furnished to the expanding and compressing apparatus, as hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination of an air-expanding engine for driving acompressor or pump with the ordinary atmospheric or air-brake reservoirsof 'a train in such a manner that the proper supply of compressed air may be furnished to operate the air-coolin g apparatus, as hereinbefore set forth.

6. The combination and arrangement of aircompressing apparatus and reservoirs relatively to a railway-car and the track, that by suitable connections a proper supply of air may be furnished to air compressing and cooling apparatus on theear for refrigerating purposes, as hereinbefore set forth.

EBENEZER HILL.

Witnesses :v

EUGENE N. ELIOT, BOYD ELIOT. 

